This week was spent weeding and mulching the flower and vegetable gardens. We have three of the gardens completed and the fourth one is half done. We are using barley straw as a mulch on the annual flowers and vegetables and flax straw on the perennials and shrubs. We plant plots of vegetables beside plots of flowers to try to eliminate the monoculture and all the disease and insect problems that are associated with it. We also plant the same vegetables or flowers in several gardens, for instance, the onions are planted in all four gardens in small plots. As you can see the plants are almost lost in the mulch, but they are growing with the heat and moisture we have been experiencing. By next week at this time a lot of the flower plants will have doubled in size.
Sweet Pea's starting to bloom!
Dahlias mulched and caged with tomato cages.
Zinnia patch mulched.
Tomatoes and annual flowers planted together.
This year we have three female hummingbirds and one male at the farm. Pat is kept busy refilling the nectar feeders. We have identified a Catbird nesting in our lilacs and the Bohemian Waxwings are often seen eating the Saskatoon berries along with the Robins. There are three young bluebirds feeding on the insects in the yard and plenty of frogs again this year.
This week at the Farmer's Market we will have new potatoes, beets and beet greens, onions, garlic scapes, fresh dill and mint.
The flower selection this week will include the peonies, delphiniums and bouquets of false sunflower, crocosmias, dahlias, sweet williams, etc. The perennial table will be abundant again this week along with a few Jalapeno and sweet green pepper plants.
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